Holland America fan on NCL Getaway MONSTER ship

[dockman]

I just did an 11 day cruise from Miami to Rio on NCL Getaway. I am four star on Holland and though i have been on NCL and Roy Carib and other big ships before this was my first time on a MONSTER ship....the NCL Getaway carries 4000 passengers.

 

My impressions especially in comparison to Holland America ships:

 

For my taste the Getaway is way way too big. On our cruise (a strange charter to move the ship to rio for the olympics) there were only 700 passengers and 1600 crew. So there was plenty of room for all passengers and very little in the way of lines etc. Frankly I don't think I'd go on this ship if it was full even if they gave it to me for free.

 

The ship has a massive twenty something restaurants but only five or so of them are free. The others have cover charges or ala carte pricing. Many of the cover charges are approx $30 PLUS an additional 18% in fees.

 

I have little doubt that when the ship is full that getting into the free restaurants is almost impossible without massive lines so you are more or less forced to go to the fee restaurants.

 

The Garden cafe (Lido buffett) is open for breakfast and lunch but not for dinner which seemed strange. The food and selection was good but IF the ship was full I suspect it would be total chaos.

 

Overall I thought the food quality was good and of course the service was excellent as there were more staff than guests. A few of the restaurants i found to be really poor decor and menus that reminded me of some cheap mall burger joint. There is nothing small or "intimate" like a pinnacle grill as all the restaurants are BIG with lots and lots of tables and must really be very crowded on a full cruise.

 

I certainly did miss the Holland Lido buffett as well as the dive in burgers , the pinnacle, the MDR , free room service etc.

 

About 65%of the NCL staff is Filipino / Indonesian with the rest from all over the world. Frankly I prefer the staff "vibe" on Holland America to be superior.

Holland is small enough that you can often get to know a lot more of the staff . NCL is so big that there is little feeling of "family" like you get on Holland.

 

The entertainment on NCL in my opinion is a big mess. While there are lots of bars, shows, big movie screens etc a lot of the entertainment also charges a fee...$30 for a magic show, $10 cover to just walk into the "ice bar"...big movie screens with very little seating. In room TV movies are mostly pay for view. The shows that i saw were not very good.

 

The NCL library is a total joke...open two hours a day, very small and a truly PITIFUL selection of books...maybe 200 books total?

 

There is no real walking prom deck ...a small jogging deck that is a joke and a semi ok walking deck that goes part way around but is very narrow and if ship was anywhere near full it would also be way too crowded.

 

The casino is huge and smells like a massive ash tray....disgusting place if you like clean air/smells.

 

The pools are very small for such a large ship...lots of water slides, rock climbing walls, rope courses and the like which have little or no appeal to me but of course the kids love it. Lots of pool chairs but placed so close together that you better hope you like whoever sits next to you cause you are practically touching...of course they do have a private area where for yet another fee you get a few feet between your chair and your neighbor.

 

My cabin was a "mini suite" which is about the same as a Holland america standard balcony room...although the bathroom was bigger and nicer and it did have a small in room one cup coffee maker.

 

The cabin stewards were so so at best especially considering only 700 pax onboard...most days my room would get cleaned about 3 pm in spite of my suggesting several times that i am an early riser and would prefer a.m. cleaning...never happened. But every day at 5 pm the steward would show up to do nightly turn down even though he'd just cleaned the room a couple hours before.

 

Anyway...we had no port calls and very few passengers so disembarkation unknown but my guess is that it could be a giant MESS trying to offload 4000 passengers for shore excursions etc.

 

In the end it was an "interesting" experience but as stated if it was full it would have been a nightmare for my taste. Frankly i did not at all care for the layout of the ship as it is just way to broken up and doesn't flow well at all like most Holland ships.

 

I will be very very happy to be back on a Holland Ship for my next cruise. While some no doubt would find the Getaway to be big and glitzy and exciting to me it was akin to sailing around in a shopping center with most every outlet designed to separate you from as much money as possible combined with lots of lines, hassles, reservations required etc etc. NCL it seems has taken the art of "nickle and diming" to an entirely new level more accurately described as "twenty and thirtying" as that is a more typical fee for most anything.

 

For any of the Holland loyalists I'd recommend you think twice before taking off on one of the mega ships without doing some serious research and thinking exactly what kind of cruise experience you prefer. As the Eagles sang, "it could be heaven or it could be Hell".

Edited August 10, 2016 by dockman

[ptcgal]

Very interesting review of large ship. I am sailing on HAL in October on the Zuiderdam. I only sailed once before on Hal but have many cruises on Royal Caribbean. I went on the Allure last year with about 12 family members (6 children). They, of course, had a great time. Me - not so much. More than 6000 people onboard because it was in June when school is out. Very crowded and long walks to go anywhere; traffic jams on Promenade deck; packed pools and long lines everywhere. I know that many folks really like all the restaurants and night life and the big ships are always full. I am really looking forward to going on a HAL ship again and will enjoy the peace and quiet.

[SilvertoGold]

LOVED this review! Thank you so much. What a time! I'll take HAL!

[puppycanducruise]

Thank you for taking the time to post your comments.

I don't want to sail on a MONSTER ship!

I prefer HAL.

[Responder]

We also gave this ship a try....don't know why as the cost was more than HAL.

 

We stayed in a Haven suite in order to avoid the chaos on the rest of the ship which was full up.

Terrible experience...if not for the isolation in the Haven, we would have jumped ship. Silly to pay this huge price to require isolation in order to survive.

 

Never again on these behemoths..

[Lady Arwen]

We sailed on NCL Breakaway (sister to Getaway) in May to Bermuda. The worst ship we've ever been on. Ugly decor, mediocre food in MDR and specialty restaurants, smoke everywhere. The pool deck is ridiculously small for so many passengers. Service was okay, but nothing to rave about. Felt like hundreds of kids running everywhere.

 

Never, ever again on NCL and never again on a mega ship! We'll stick with HAL and Celebrity!

[Queen of DaNile]

Thanks for confirming something that I thought I'd never want to "try". 2200 on Zuidy next week is pushing my limit :D

[drneal]

I usually go on the mega ships....my last cruise was on the NCL Getaway...and I am looking forward to my upcoming Veendam cruise in 2 weeks

[Lady Arwen]

Sorry, wrong post

[3rdGenCunarder]

I usually go on the mega ships....my last cruise was on the NCL Getaway...and I am looking forward to my upcoming Veendam cruise in 2 weeks

 

I hope you enjoy Veendam. She's a LOT smaller than the megas! Even after a Vista, we were surprised at how quickly we could walk to anywhere on the ship. I think the layout of the public spaces is convenient on Veendam.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Thanks for confirming something that I thought I'd never want to "try". 2200 on Zuidy next week is pushing my limit :D

 

(bold is mine) My thoughts EXACTLY! I look at those things and think OMG, way too huge!

 

A Vista is my limit, too, with the exception of QM2. When you look at the size of a ship, you also have to look at how many passengers they're packing onto it. Most lines would put way more people on a ship of that size (she carries fewer than 3000 guests) Although QM2 is big, and it can be a long walk from one end to the other, there is a lot of personal space. Last time we were on her, I looked around the dining room and noticed that there was generous space between tables. It was possible to stand up without asking the person at the table behind you to "squeeze in." (Much roomier than the MDR on a HAL Vista.)

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review. You did the cruise about the only way I would consider it (with the ship empty).

[St Pete Cruiser]

Very interesting concept for NCL to charter Getaway for Rio/Olympics. I understand it was for corporate sponsors and their guests. Very few sailing the non stop run to Rio and back to Miami.

Do wonder if NCL makes more doing this than regular cruising?

[kalliekae]

Well, count us as ones who enjoyed the Allure which holds 6000 passengers when full. While we have 7 cruises on HAL, I think there is room for all different types of cruising and enjoying what each offers. Everyone has their opinions which is good and there's a niche for every type of cruising. Happy Sailing on whatever ship you enjoy!

[dockman]

Very interesting concept for NCL to charter Getaway for Rio/Olympics. I understand it was for corporate sponsors and their guests. Very few sailing the non stop run to Rio and back to Miami.

Do wonder if NCL makes more doing this than regular cruising?

 

We were told it was chartered by the USOC but staff on ship seemed to know very little about it all...several said it was also being rented out on a daily basis as a hotel but I never saw any promotion of this at all.

 

There were a lot of Brazilians with a lot of kids aboard who i assume saw it as a very cheap way to go back and visit relatives etc during the Olympics as they could likely stay with relatives and not have to deal with high hotel prices and poor availablility.

 

I was somewhat amazed that the cruise did not seem to be promoted on the usual online web sites...it was almost like they wanted to keep it a secret...which obviously worked well as only 700 people booked even though price was ridiculously cheap. When we finally docked in Rio the Silver Seas was already docked as it was chartered by the USA mens and womens basketball teams for them and their friends. Of course the NBA guys are all multimillionaires so they could sure afford it.

 

The ship sails back rio to Mia on Aug 22 for 11 days if anyone wants to try and figure it out....I suspect it will be less than 1/2 full but not sure.

[HarpHarp]

I usually sail NCL & am about to take my first HAL cruise. My last 2 cruises were on the Breakaway and the Escape- the Mega ships of the NCL fleet.

I liked both these ships, but the Escape is a cut above. The District Brewhouse is a must for Beer lovers, & Food Republic has many small plates for $3 to $8. I found the new menus in the 3 main dining rooms to be excellent, though I understand the food on HAL is superior. We never waited to be seated more that a few minutes while they were setting a table.

The pools are small, though there always seem to be chairs available. Spice H2O was never crowded, and the spa is fabulous. The entertainment is first rate.

I'm hoping for some input from you experienced HAL cruisers. Will there be enough to do during sea days on the Zuiderdam to keep me happy? What are the gym & spa like?

[St Pete Cruiser]

I called NCL. They said it was not available as it was chartered. They even admitted they have had others inquire, too, but couldn't even refer us to a possible source.

Guess I will have to look at HAL itinerarys to Rio/ South America!

[dockman]

I called NCL. They said it was not available as it was chartered. They even admitted they have had others inquire, too, but couldn't even refer us to a possible source.

Guess I will have to look at HAL itinerarys to Rio/ South America!

 

 

there is a roll call thread here that might be of interest

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2376963

[Aquahound]

Well, count us as ones who enjoyed the Allure which holds 6000 passengers when full. While we have 7 cruises on HAL, I think there is room for all different types of cruising and enjoying what each offers. Everyone has their opinions which is good and there's a niche for every type of cruising. Happy Sailing on whatever ship you enjoy!

 

Same here. I've been on Oasis Class 4 times and loved every one of them. And moreso, most of the time, the ships felt less crowded than HAL ships. Not to mention how the entertainment blows HAL out of the water.

 

Escape, on the other hand, was a little different. I really liked the cruise but the ship was, by far, the most crowded and chaotic feeling ship on which I've ever sailed.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I find crew are a bit different no matter which cruise line you are on when the ship is half empty. It is rather a vacation for them and not needing to rush rush, as well as they are given more days off, with that being said unless you have cruised on the mega ship such as NCL with full passenger content I do not know how one can prejudge what the ship would be like for the crowds and line :confused: Since you have not experienced it you have not idea how they would handle it.

I admit I have not sailed on NCL mega size ships, I have only sailed on the Jewel and Dawn Class that is exactly the same as the Vista Class. But with that being said NCL handles crowds and lines much better than HAL. I have been on RCCI and Celebrity Mega ships and they too handle the lines and crowds much better.

I also find it interesting that you state that the Garden Cafe was not open for dinner. I suspect because this was such a low passenger count for this sailing they closed up the Garden Cafe at night giving crew a bit of time off. Because the garden Cafe Hardly never closes not like the Lido does. One can always go to the Garden Cafe and get food mid morning mid afternoon and late night.

[serendipity1499]

Dockman Thanks for your review.. I too enjoy the smaller HAL ships, although we've sailed on NCL's smaller ships several times & always had a good cruise.. Don't think I would want to be on with 4,000 to 6,000 others though.. Many of the Cruise lines used to charter their ships for past Olympic's & do believe they make more on that type of stationary charter than they do on other charter's..

 

 

Thanks for confirming something that I thought I'd never want to "try". 2200 on Zuidy next week is pushing my limit :D

 

We normally sail on the R & S ships & Love the Prinsendam, but trying the Zuiderdam in Oct. to the Canal.. I worry about it being so large too, however we'll be with good Friends & looking forward to our cruise.. Please come back & give us your thoughts on your cruise..

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Edited August 11, 2016 by serendipity1499

[Tampa Girl]

Thanks for confirming something that I thought I'd never want to "try". 2200 on Zuidy next week is pushing my limit :D

 

I think the passenger capacity on that ship is 1,964 (per HAL); so perhaps your limits will not be tested. Enjoy!

[dogo88]

Guess that's why there are different ships and itineraries for folks. We pretty much were HAL exclusive for many years. But they just seemed to get stale. So we tried the newer ships on NCL and RCCL. Totally enjoyed both and had a great time. Of course they were different, but there were many similarities. And the pros and cons pretty much evened out.

 

Going on Anthem in Oct and Oosterdam won out over Getaway for next March by the slimmest of margins.

 

Dan

[Fouremco]

Very interesting concept for NCL to charter Getaway for Rio/Olympics. I understand it was for corporate sponsors and their guests. Very few sailing the non stop run to Rio and back to Miami.

Do wonder if NCL makes more doing this than regular cruising?

Nothing new about the concept. In 2010, for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, security forces were provided accommodation on three ships. If I remember correctly, they included Carnival's Elation and HAL’s Statendam and Oosterdam.

 

Interestingly, NCL's Norwegian Star was chartered by a group that offered bookings as an alternative to Vancouver's hotels, but in the end the charter fell through when the group failed to secure sufficient bookings.